Writing grant proposals can be a daunting task. Dr. Susan Mikota shares some advice in this PDF.

Elephant Family awards partial funding for pathology workshop in Myanmar

Many thanks to Elephant Family for awarding partial funding to Elephant Care International to conduct a workshop “ Pathology Training for Elephant Veterinarians in Myanmar.” Dr. Susan Mikota and Dr. Khyne U Mar will co-manage the project and will team-teach together with Dr. Dalen Agnew, a board certified veterinary pathologist from Michigan State University. Learn more Please support our work in Myanmar. Donate here!

Elephant Formulary Update and Excel Chart AddedOur on-line Elephant Formulary has been updated and we have also added an easy-to-use PDF chart with a Summary of Commonly Used Medications. If you have used the Elephant Care International Formulary, please consider a small donation. Our work is supported by donations and grants. Thanks!

Dr. Susan Mikota is a Diplomate of the American College of Animal WelfareIn June 2017 Dr. Susan Mikota, ECI’s Director of Veterinary Programs and Research became a Diplomate of the American College of Animal Welfare (ACAW). ACAW is one of 22 specialty organizations recognized by the American Veterinary Medical Association. A veterinary specialist is a veterinarian who has completed additional training in a specific area of veterinary medicine and has passed an examination that evaluates their knowledge and skills in that specialty area.

Career Profile of Nepalese ColleagueCareer profile of our colleague and former ECI funded veterinarian for the Nepal Elephant Healthcare and Tuberculosis Surveillance Program PDF

Elephants! A 17 year Journey from Audubon Zoo to Southeast Asia –Susan Mikota and Hank Hammatt to present Nov. 25, 2017 at Audubon Park Zoo in New Orleans . For more information please see the Audubon Announcement

“Wildlife Tuberculosis: An Emerging Threat for Conservation in South Asia”

The Voice for Asian Elephants Society (http://www.vfaes.org/) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to end elephant slavery and protect the endangered Asian elephants that are being captured illegally from the wild. VFAES’s founder and president, Sangita Iyer is an award-winning journalist and documentary film maker. Her film, “Gods in Shackles” which reveals the dark side of cultural festivals in southern India where temple elephants are exploited for profit has won multiple awards.

Dr. Susan Mikota (ECI’s Director of Veterinary Programs and Research) has recently joined VFAES’s team as a member of their advisory board (http://www.vfaes.org/our-team).

Is tuberculosis a threat to elephants in the wild?

Until recently, TB had never been reported in a wild elephant. Then in 2013, TB was diagnosed in a wild African elephant that had been under human care at an orphanage. In 2015 TB was found in a wild elephant in Sri Lanka. Now in 2017 four cases of TB in wild elephants in India were reported in the on-line journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. Dr. Mikota discusses the threat of TB to wild elephants in this invite CDC podcast:https://www2c.cdc.gov/podcasts/player.asp?f=8645613

You can also read the 2017 reports in the March issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases:

Elephants in captivity often suffer from debilitating arthritis. Anti-inflammatory drugs can help for awhile but elephants often become refractory to their effects and arthritis remains one of the main reasons elephants are euthanized in the U.S. Dr. Mikota has been studying acupuncture in the hopes that this may provide ab alternative or complimentary therapy for elephants that suffer from this painful condition. The following book chapter was published earlier this year:

MOU signed with the VELS Institute of Science, Technology, and Advanced Studies

Elephant Care International has signed an International Memorandum of Understanding with the VELS Institute of Science, Technology, and Advanced Studies in India. The School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at VELS is developing an Elephant Research Centre. Elephant Care International will share information and serve in an advisory capacity to help identify research needs.

Elephant Formulary Updated

Our Elephant Formulary, a compendium of medications for elephants has recently been updated.